When she looked up from her book, there he was. Sitting directly in front of her. Her look was one of puzzlement and confusion. She had no experience with strangers brazenly approaching her in public like this.
He smiled, said hello, and asked her name. She told him her name was Helene almost as a reflex while she tried to size him up. She showed her nervousness about his appearing out of nowhere. Her guard was up but he knew she was too polite to simply tell him to get lost. He had the initiative and he meant to use it.
"You know, I like to people watch." he said.
"I am sometimes fascinated by the people I see. I must confess that I have watched you in here on a few occasions and became quite interested in you. That is why I wanted to meet you. Have you ever noticed that you can really see a great deal about a person's character just by observing them in a public setting?"
Helene was trying to process what was happening here and what to do. She was asked a direct question. Part of her thought this required an answer but the whole event was foreign enough to make her want to start with some questions of her own - to back things up a little. Who was this guy and why was he bothering her? Also, there was something about the look on this guy's face. He was so calm and relaxed. His manner was so matter of fact. It was as if he was merely continuing an ongoing conversation instead of starting this peculiar cold call.
"I suppose everyone makes assumptions about people they see." she said.
Before Helene could start asking any of the questions piling up in her head, he continued leading the conversation.
"I want to tell you a little bit about myself and explain why I am so interested in you if you will simply listen for a few minutes. I promise it will be brief and all I ask is you listen without interruption."
He scarcely waited for a response before he continued.
"First of all, my main interest in people watching is usually occupational. I am a writer by trade and I am always trying to hone my skills in sizing people up and understanding how they will respond to various situations. I work very hard to get an insight into their interests, their motivations, and their desires."
She felt like this was a new kind of come-on. It seemed like an elaborate sales pitch to her but she was listening to it nonetheless. She was curious to know how this ploy would develop.
"I had been working on something in particular for a new story." he continued.
"I was trying to write a new character in a story but I had been seriously stuck. The problem was that I didn't feel like I could really penetrate the emotional range and response of the character in the way I normally require. While I was struggling with this problem, it just so happened that I began to notice you and start watching you. You became important to my story."
He could tell the delivery of this line created the intended air of anticipation - albeit mixed with mild anxiety. He was committed now and there was no turning back.
"I will explain in a very general and simplified sense what the connection is. The character I am interested in is a woman who is in a fundamental sense of good character. She is kind, sensitive, responsible, thoughtful , genuine - in a way she represents to me many of the idealized feminine character traits that are so often lacking in men. That is to say, she is more more thoughtful, more sensitive than most."
He paused briefly and observed her face to gauge her reaction.
"She is someone who has an appreciation for the arts, is an avid reader, and craves new experiences and intellectual stimulus. Lastly, she is a bit sheltered in her experience. She has always been a good girl and a bit cautious by nature. Because of this - for the purposes of my story - she has a certain void in her life that she is perhaps only dimly aware of. She doesn't realize that there are parts of her nature that have long been held in reserve. A nature that is primitive and powerful that would surprise her by virtue of its intensity and the reckless abandon it might promote."
